New bays in Davis Place to help delivery lorries

THREE new disabled parking bays are being placed near Davis Place, with a taxi rank to help prevent vehicles blocking lorries delivering goods to town centre shops.

Previously, motorists with disabled badges have parked in front of Sainsbury’s and Boots, although they are not actual spaces, which has caused problems for delivery vehicles. Swindon Council has now agreed to bring in the new disabled areas and taxi rank to try and solve the problem.

Richard Freeman, council spokesman, said: “Davis Place is right next to a loading bay where large lorries deliver goods to the shops, so there are parking restrictions in place to allow the lorries to manoeuvre safely. There have never been any parking bays there for either taxis or blue badge holders, although we recognise that it is a convenient place for them to park.

“The problem has been that drivers leave their cars in areas which stop lorries from making deliveries, and this has caused problems. We’ve been consulting local councillors, residents, taxi drivers and businesses to find a solution that suits everyone.

“We have agreed that we will create four new taxi bays where the taxis can park parallel to the kerb in an area which still gives lorries enough room to make deliveries, and we will put in three new disabled parking bays around the corner, which will allow blue badge holders to park where there is enough room to do this without obstructing the lorries.”